Apparently, 49-year-old Brandon was struggling financially and needed access to Catherine's considerable wealth. Soon after Mary's death, Brandon decided to wed his 11-year-old son's fiancée, 14-year-old Catherine Willoughby, Tudor Societyreports. When he married Mary, Brandon's agreement with Elizabeth was annulled.īrandon never married Elizabeth, but he did marry another minor. Indeed, Brandon was engaged to the orphaned Elizabeth Grey, and he was made Viscount Lisle in anticipation of the wedding. One of the most discomfiting images of The Spanish Princess is Brandon standing next to his betrothed, Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess Lisle-who is eight years old. Hulton Archive // Getty Images Charles Brandon eventually did marry a child, like The Spanish Princess suggests. Upon returning to England, They married again at Greenwich Palace in May, with Henry and Catherine in attendance. The couple was forced to reimburse Mary's dowry, which amounted to £200,000, per Carroll's book, as well as the jewels Louis XII had given her. The king eventually forgave the couple, but demanded restitution. "It was not the fact of their marriage that Henry objected to so violently, but that the lovers had wed in secret and without his permission," Leslie Carroll wrote in Notorious Royal Marriages. Technically, Brandon committed treason by marrying a member of the royal family without getting permission from the king first, The Tudor Society wrote.Īnd given Henry's propensity to behead people (see: Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, etc), the lovers took a major risk. Brandon and Mary secretly married in France on March 3, 1515. Mary's mind was on Charles Brandon, her longtime crush-and Henry's clever, athletic, charismatic best friend, who had been sent to collect her from isolation in France. Mary was forced to seclude for 40 days to ensure she wasn't pregnant. The Spanish Princess suggests that his death was hastened by, uh overexertion in the bedroom-and according to historian Clare Ridgway of The Anne Boleyn Files, the French people shared that opinion. Louis died of gout in January 1515, less than three months after their wedding. Before leaving, Mary made her brother, Henry, promise that should Louis XII die before her, and she was childless, she would be free to choose her next husband. His sister, Mary, known to be an exceptional beauty according to Tudor Society, would be the one to strengthen the peace treaty via marriage.Īt the age of 18, Princess Mary was shipped to France to marry the 52-year-old King Louis XII. When relations with Spain frayed in 1514, Henry sought another alliance-one with France. Princess Mary reluctantly married King Louis XII, so that she could choose her next husband.Īs the first episode in The Spanish Princess's second season shows, Princess Mary was initially meant to marry a Spanish prince. This is the true story of Mary and Charles Brandon. Case in point? Mary isn't deposed as regent Queen of Scotland and dramatically separated from her two sons, like what happened to Margaret. Mary's secret marriage does cause drama for her-though significantly less than Margaret's caused her. Just last episode, Margaret, Mary's older sister, secretly married the Earl of Angus. If The Spanish Princess has taught us anything, it's that the Tudor siblings had a knack for following their heart-even if their hearts are tempestuous creatures (see: all of Henry's decisions this season, in a desperate attempt to procure a male heir). Though Henry wanted to arrange his sister's next marriage, Mary followed her heart. Mary's husband, King Louis VII, had just died. In the fifth episode of The Spanish Princess, the star-crossed lovers defy convention-and Mary's older brother, Henry's, wishes-and get secretly married in France.
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